Grain drying and salvaging railway-car.



0. W. RANDOLPH GRAIN DRYING AND SALVAGING RAILWAY CAR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 2,1917. Patented Apr. 16, 1918.

1 SHEETSSHEEI' 1.

"g QM O. W. RANDOLPH. GRAIN DRYING AND SALVAGING RAILWAY CAR- APPLICATION man- JULY 2,1911.

1;,Q62fi42u, Patented Apr. 16. 1918.

1 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

O. W RANDOLPH.

GRAIN DRYING AND SALVAGING RAILWAY CAR. APPLICATION FILED JULY 2.1917.

ISHEETS-SHEET 3.

1,262,84Q, Patented Apr. 16, 1918.

IIIITIIIII 0. w. RANDOLPH. GRAIN DRYING AND SALVAGING RAILWAY CAR.

APPLIC ATION FILED JULY 2,1917- Patented Apr. 16, 1918.

1 SHEETSSHEET 4.

EJQ

w m A\ #J/////////// o. w. RANDOLPH. GRAIN DRYING AND SALVAGING RAILWAY CAR.

I APPLICATION FILED JULY 2,1917- 1,262,842. Patented Apr.'16, 1918.

1 SHEETS-SHEET 5- O. W. RANDOLPH. GRAIN .DRYING AND SALVAGING RAILWAY CAR.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 2,1917- I.

Pafiented Apr. 16,1918.

1 sums-sneer 6.

. 0. W. RANDOLPH.

GRAIN DRYING AND SALVAGING RAILWAY CAR-.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 2.193;.

1,262,840 Patented Apr. 16, 1.918,

ISHEETS-SHEEI' 7.

omvn'n w. RANDOLPH, or TOLEDO, oHIo.

GRAI-N DRYING Ami SALVAGIN'G RAIIiWAY-GAR.

Specification of Letters Patent. Patented Apr. 16, 1918.

Application filed July 2, 1917. Serial No. 178,126.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, OLIVER W. RANDOLPH, a citizen of the United States, residing at Toledo, in the countyv of Lucas and State of .Ohio, have invented new and useful Imsoaked grain may be dried and loaded into cars within a short time and before fermentatio'n begins, and whereby the loss and damage accruing from delay in salvaging and the increased expense of transportation of the water soaked grain to distant local driers is wholly avoided.

V A further object is to provide a drying car. of the kind that may be transported from elevator to elevator where driers are not installed and be used for both reducing the percentage of moisture in the grain to established grades and for loading the grain into cars from the elevator for shipment.

I accomplish these objects by the construction and combination of parts, as hereinafter described, set forth in the claims, and illustrated in the di-awings,'in which Figure 1 is a side elevation'of a grain drying car, constructed in accordance with my invention.

Fig. 2 is a plan view of the same.

Fig. 3 is an enlarged-plan ,view of the cen- I tral portion of the car, sectioned on-lines 11 of Fig. 1.

Fig. l is an enlarged side view of a broken away top portion of one leg of the drier and its garner hopper.

Fig. 5 is 21- Ian view of the grain conveyers and thelr connection with the elevators.

Fig. 6 is a broken away side view of the same.

Fig. 7 is an enlarged section of Fig. 1 on line Fig.8 is an enlarged side view of a broken away lower portion of a drier leg.

Fig. 9 is a broken away enlarged top V ew of the garner and speed of flow regulating valves at the lower end of. each chute-0f a drier leg.

Fig. 10 is" a top View of the discharge ipout and valve for each chute of a drier Fig. 11 is a section of thesame on line 5- 5' of Fig. 10.. 1

Fig. 12 '1s a plan view of a spe'edof flow regulating valve, detached.

Fig. 13 is a front elevation of a drier furnace.

Fig-14is a section of the same on line 66 of Fig. 13.

Fig. 15 is an enlarged detail of' the air mixing chamber of the furnace.

Fig. 16 is a view inside elevation of the drier car with the detachable sections of the c-onveyers and elevators removed, and in condition for transportation.

ing the arrangement of battle plates in the air chamber between opposite legs of the drier and cooler air to each grain chute.

In the drawings 7 designates the body and 8 the trucks of a railway car'constructed in accordance with my invention, the body 7 being of any suitable frame work and adjusted to receive, house and carry the drying and cooling mechanisms, supported, on the I shaped longitudinal girders 9, hereinafter described.

The body 7 of the car is mounted on the trucks 8 at the forward and rear end portions of thebody, the trucks being of any of the standard makes and gage used in railway cars, adapting. the car to-be hauled over the tracks of standard railways, and is preferably equipped to be hauled as a special car with fast passenger trains, whereby it can. be quickly transported from itshome station at some railway center, or from its last lace for equally distributing the of use, over the most direct line of railway to any point where an elevator fire has occurred.

In a central co mpartment 10 of the car each comprising the outer and inner chutes 1'1 and 12 respectively, the permanent sec:

the buckets upright upward through the outer chutes 11 and inverted downward through the inner chutes 12.

The hood sections are smaller compart ments ofa large hood H which is detachable from the chutes 11 and 12, and extends over the central compartment of the car body 7.- The ,belt wheels 13 of the elevators-A and B are fixedly mounted on a common shaft 15 central ofone end portion of the hood H. a

In like manner the boot sections 0 of: the elevators A and B are divisional compart ments of a detachable casing G underneath one sidevof the car body 7 and of the elevators G and D, of a casing G underneath the opposite side of the car body, and the belt wheels 13 of' the elevators .A"and B are fixedly mounted on a common shaft'16 of the casing G, and of the' elevators O and'D on the common shaft 16' of the casing G". The casings G and G are provided with side projections 17 open at the-top, adapted to be connected to a source of grain supply, whereby grain may be supplied to either one of the sections 0 of the casings G and G. However, as the parts are shown arranged in the drawings the section 0 of the elevator A is the only one of the sections 0 that can operatively connect the elevators with the source of grain supply.

Forward of and next adjacent to the elevator compartments 10 is the drying com-1' pertinent 18, on each side of which. and forming the sides of the car are located the two equal sections 19 and 19 of the drier, extendmglfrom the floor 20 of the car upward to a level with the highest portion of the roof of the end portions of the car.

The sections 19 and 19 of the drier are each compgsed of a top hopper portion 21, an equal number of grain chutes 22 extendmg from the hopper portion to the level of the floor 20, the valve controlled. common garner 23 for all the chutes22 extending below the floor and the individual discharge spouts 24 and their discharge valves 25, one for each chute 22. L J

.The chutes 22 of the drier sections 19 and 19 may be of any suitable constructlon adapted to efiicently, uniformly and economically give access of heated air to and through grain passing through the chutes. B ut preferably I employ the unit construction set forth and described l y pend g naeaeaa application, Serial No. 137,529 filed lDecw 18, 1916, for improvement in grain and seed drier, and illustrated .in Fig. 8 herein, as

chute and with their lower angle portions converging inward opposite each outer angle of the partitions 27 of the respective chutes I 22, whereby each chute, 22 comprises a central passage for grain, with an air duct 30 opposite each plate 29 extending horizontally through the drier sections with their'o'p'enings 31 from the ducts 30 into the grain passage between the lower edgesof each plate 29 and the next lower inner angle of the common partitions 27. The ends of the plate 29 have the cars 32 angledthere' 1 from, whereby the plates are secured by bolts to the channel sides 26. The triangular openings at the ends of the ducts of each chute 22 are alternately closed by flanged i triangular units 33 on each side, each duct 30 that is closed on the inner sides of the sections 19 and 19' being open at itsouter end to form an outlet duct and each duct that is open on the inner side of the sections being closed by a unit 33 at its outer end to form an inlet-duct, whereby air that enters an inlet duct passes downward through the opening 31 of the duct and upward through-the" grain in the passage to and through the opening 31 of the next. adjacent outlet duct and escapes to the atmosphere through the outlet duct.

The central channel. bar 26. of the inner and outer sides 26 -of each grain chute 22 is provided just below the end ofeach oppo-v site pair of plates 29 (as'shown in Fig. 8)

with angle incuts through the channel bars in which are detachably mounted the ends of the angled deflector plates 29' which extend horizontally and transversely through the chutes just below the lower ends of the plates 29, and which are adapted to divide 'and deflect the grain in the center-portion of'each chute22 outward toward each plate 29 whereby the joint efiect of the plates 29 and 29 is to constantly change the grain from the center of the chute toward the outside, and from the outside to the center, and also to prevent the grain in the center of the chute from traveling faster than at the sides, whereby the grain is more uniformly dried a d cooled.

On th opposite side if the elevator compartn ent 10 is the cooler compartment 34 (of equal dimensions as .the drier comparttion 21 of the drier section 19; the hopper ment 18) in which are installed the sec- 43 of-the elevator B by a discharge spout tions 35 and. 35 of the cooler, which are 45 with the hopper portion 21 of the drier duplicates in construction and capacity of section 19'; the hopper 43 of the elevator the drier sections 19' and 19'." C by-a discharge spout 46 with the hopper The cooler sections 35 and 35' are also section 21 of the coolersection 35; and the provided with a common garner 23 (shown hopper 43 of the elevator D by the discharge in Fig. 8) provided with valves 23 controlling the speed; of flow through the chutes 22, and with the individual discharge'spouts spout 47 with the hopper portion 21' of the cooler section whereby the grain carried up by elevator A is discharged into the 24 of each chute 22, bontrolled by valves 25. hopper of section 19 of the drier, through The spouts 24 of both the drying sections the spout 44. The grain discharged from 19 and 19 and of the cooler sections 35 and section 19 of the drier is delivered to section 35 discharge respectively into common 0 of elevator B by the conveyer 37 and ca-r- 80* screw cpnveyer troughs 36 and 36, which ried up by the elevator B and discharged are installed underneath the car below the through, the spout 45 into section 19 of the discharge spouts 24, when the car is 10- drier. The grain discharged from the seccated. for use, the trough 36 to receive the tion 19' of the drier is delivered by the left grain from sections 19 and 35 and the hand conveyer 37 to the boot section c'of the trough 36 from the sections 19' and 35.

The trough 36 extends through the top portions of boot sections a of the casing G of the elevatorsvA and B between the'chutes' 11 and 12 of each .elevator, and the trough 36. in like manner extends through the boot sections 0 of the casing G of the elevators C and D. v

The troughs 36 and 36 each have journaled lengthwise therein the conveyer shafts 37 and 37 respectively, which are each connected by belts 38 with a motor 39 installed beneath the car, as shown in Figs. 1, 5 and 6.

Beneath thespouts ,24 of the drier sections 19 and 19. the conveyer shafts 37 and .37

each are provided With-a left hand helical conveyer blade,'whereby the grain delivered from the spouts into the troughs 36 and 36',

" from the drier sections are respectively conered respectively through sp uts 40 and 40 into boot sections 0 of elevatorsjB and C respectively.

Beneath the spouts 24 of the cooler sections 35 and 35 the shafts 37 and 37 are provided, each with a right hand helical conveyer blade, whereby the grain delivered from. the spouts 24 of the cooler sections 35 The hood section d of each elevator has a.

" grain cars for shipment;

elevator C and carried up by-the elevator C and delivered through the spout 46 to the w hopper 21 of section 35 of the cooler. I

The grain discharged from the cooler section 35 is delivered by the right hand conveyer 37 to the boot section 0 of the e evator D and is carried up by the elevator D and delivered through the spout 47 to" the hopper 21 of the cooler section 35., and is. discharged from the spouts 24 of that section, and delivered by the right hand conveyed to the casings G and G, and delivabove the car body 7 and journaled by, a

54 which is'mounted in the shaft 15', on

which are mounted the pulleys 13 of the elevators C and D.

(not shown) into In the end compartment 55 of the car body 7 is provided a blower 56 which is connected by an air delivery duct 57 with the air space between the-drier sections 19 and 19 and with an-air receiving duct 58 I 7 receiving hopper 43 inward from. and along-, connected with an air heating and temper- I their respective belt wheels 13 empty their blower. v v

The furnace 59 may be of any type adaptside of the top portion of the chute 12 of mg furnace 59 in the compartment 55. The

each elevator, into which the, buckets of the blower 56' is connected also by belt 59 with belt. 14 of each elevator, as they pass over an electric motor 60 adapted to operatethe loads of grain, and the hoppers 43. of the elevators are respectively connected as foled to heat the .a1r delivered to the blowers 56, but preferably I employ a type of heater I lows :'the hopper 43 of the elevator A, by.

.a discharge spout 44 with the hopper porsimilar to the one shown and describedin v illustrated in I Figs.- l3 and 14 herein,

wherein-the heated air and gases'of com-' bustion are mingled with a heated volume of air drawn by the blower through a heating chamber of the furnace and tempered with air from the atmosphere, as required to produce and maintain an air supply under pressure and at a uniform predetermined temperature for use in thedrier sections.

To accomplish these objects li preferably use in my car drier a modified form of the heater shown and described in my said pending application, Serial No. 148,700, comprising a plurality of equal units 59, each comprising a'rectangular combustion' cham ber 60, having the frontwall 6l pg'ovide d with the upper draft door- 62, the lower draft door 63 and the feed door 64, between. the draft doors, the back wall 65, the side walls 66,,the .bridge wall 67, between and parallel with the front and back walls and supported by the. side walls 66 above'the bottom 68, a grate 69 supported by the bridge and front walls belowthe level of the feed door and above the lower draftdoor, an inclined top closure plate.70 extending from side to side and from the top of the bridgewall to the front wall above the upper draft door;"an .air heating chamber 71 mounted on the combustion chamber, comprising a rectangular flue box 72 having sition to the arms62 of the doors 62 and the bell cranks 8 1 and 82 are so connected that when the bell cranks 81 are moved to open the upper draft doors the lower draft doors are closed, and vice versa. The common rod 7 9.is also provided wit a bell crank 84 so relatively adjusted and connected with a bell crank 81 by the common connection 85, that when the upper draft doors 62 are fully opened, the dampers 78 are closed and the dampers 76 are fully opened, andvice versa. 1

he common'connection 85 is operatively connected to the piston of an air motor 86 adapted to be yieldingly held normally in one positionby a spring (not shown), and v to be moved to close the'upper draft doors 62 and the dampers 76, when airunder a predetermined pressure is admitted to. the j air motor, and thereby open the lower draft doors 63 and the dampers 78.

An air compressor 87 connected by a belt r 88 with a -pulley'89 on the shaft of the blower, is adapted to store up a supply of compressed air in a' receiver 90 that is connected by a pipe 91 with the air motor 86. A valve; (not'shown) controlling the pipe "91 is adapted to be opened by a thermostat 92 a multiplicity of upright flues 72 with ,the,

flues in staggered rows, said flue box being open at front and backand closedat the sides and also at "the top and bottom ex "cepting the flues, anda commonair mixing, 4 chamber 7 3 for the units 59 mounted on the combustion chamber behind the flue boxes, said chamber 73 beingclosed at the ends,

top and bottom and openat'th'e front and connected with the flue boxes and at the rear by the receiving duct 58 with the blower 56, a hood 74 mounted on the flue box and having an arched flue 75 connecting the hood with the air mixing chamber 73, and a damper '7 6 adapted to control the flue 75.

The top of the mixing chamber 73 between the flues 75 of the'units 59, is. also provided with draft openings 77 ,,which are .each provided 'with acontrolling damper 78, and the dampers 76 and 78 are so relatively mounted on a common rod 7 9, that when-the dampers 76- are fully opened, the

v dampers .78 are closed, and vice versa, and

. when either is partially opened the others and the lower draft doors 3each have a bell crank 82 connected'by an arm 83 fixed on the doors 63 a relatively reversed poinstalled in the drier compartment 18, at a predetermined maximum temperaturetherein and to close the. valve by a predetermined minimum temperature, whereby the upper' draft doors and the dampers .76 of the heater Will'be closed and the lower draft doors and the dampers 78 opened when the temperature in the drier compartment has reached the predetermined maximum, and their positions will be reversed when the temperature in the drier compartment has reached the minimum, therebyafltomatically maintaining the temperature ofthe air'in the drier at degrees between themaximum and the minimum.

' To 'heat the unit 59,- hard coal or coke is supplied to the grates of the units thro ugh the feed doors 64 which are kept normally closed.-

The front wall 69 and th'e open front of the flue boxes 72 of the units 59 substantially and 2), for feeding the furnaces, and is raised and secured in vertical position when the 031 15 dismantled for transportation, as

shown in Fig. 16. In the latter condition, after the removal of the detachable hpod H,

the elevator sections 3 and the hoppers of the 'drier and cooler sections, a suitable flat roof 7' is placed in position covering the compartments 1.0, 18 and 34.3

lhus constructed, it will be seen that when the blower is started its suction will cause a downward through the grates, around and under thebaflie plates 93, and upward over the bridge walls above the inclined top.

plates, and up through the flues 72; and

, I through the arched flues 7 into the mixing chamber 73 at the same time that air is drawn through the flue box, whereby the "heated air and gases of combustion are mixed with the air drawn through the flue first and a second section installed in the boxes.

Should the temperature'in the drier rise to the maximum the upper draft doors and the damper 76 will be automatically closed and the lower draft doors and the damper 78 will be opened, whereby the draft through the furnaces will be from below the g ate, and

' reduced to the capacity of draft hole in the dampers, which are provided to pre ent all I draft through the furnaces .from being cut off.

By using a heater of the. kind described I' utilize substantially allthe heat produced by I the fuel burned, and the carbonic gases mingled with the air operate to destroy all parasitical animalculae that infect the grain, whereby the grade ofthe grain is raised.

In the opposite end. of the car 7 there is installed a blower 9t and an electric motor 95 to operate the blower 94, which is connected by a duct 96 with the air space ofthe cooler compartment34.

The air spaces between the .drier sections 19 and 19 and the cooler sections 35 and 35.

. respectively are preferably provided (as diaand 94 respectively, between the grain chutes 22 of the drier and cooler sections, by intercepting a portion of the air opposite each chute 22 and directing it through the inlet ducts 30 of each chute, whereby it will be seen that the air delivered by the drier and cooler blowers into the respective compartments 18 and 34 will pass out equally through the opposite sections of thedrief and cooler respectively, and that. the air entering the inlet openings of the inner sides of the drier and cooler sections can only reach the openings of the outer sides of the section after'passing from the inlet ducts downward through the openings 31- into and driers, in iny present invention, I have re-.

organized "and adapted my grain driers to necessary to the handling and drying of. grain at elevators where such facilities have drying comp-artmenton opposite sides thereof with an inclosed air space between said sections, each section comprising a receiving hopper and a plurality of vertically disposed drier chutes, each comprising a vertical grain passage and horizontally disposed air ducts on each side of the grain passage and having openings into the passage, and alternate air' ducts having openings into the air space between the sections, and their outer ends closed and the remaining ducts having their innerends closed and their outer ends open to the atmosphere, an elevator in the elevator compartment adapted .to receive grain from a grain supply and to deiiver the grain to the hopper of the first .upward' through the .grain column to the drler section, a second elevator in the eleva tor compartment adapted-to receive grain from the first drier section and deliver it to the hopper of the second drier section, means to deliver grain fromthe second drying section to the receiver of a loading mechanism, a blower installed in the car and connected to the air space in the drier compartment, a heater installed in the car and adapted to deliver heated air to the blower, and means to operate the elevators and the blower.

2. In a grain drying and salvaging railway car, the combination with a car body mounted on trucks and adapted to run on standard railway tracks, and having a drying compartment, and an elevator compartment, a pair of drier sections in the drier compartment, each comprising a receiving hopper, a plurality of grain chutes, transverse inlet and outlet air ducts, and valve controlled discharge'spouts, said sections installed as sides of the drying compartment, with an air space between the sections, an elevator in the elevator compartment for each drier section, one adapted to'receive grain from a grain'supply and deliver it. into'the hop-- per of a drier section, and a second elevator adapted "to receive the grain discharged from the first drier section and deliver it loading mechanism, a .blower installediin the "car and adapted to deliverair-into the air 5 'the restricted-conditions necessarily involved in installing it in a railway car, and in adapting it to performall the function's" space of the drier compartment, a heater installed in the car and adapted to deliver heated air to the blower, means to. automatically regulate the temperature of the air delivered to the blower, and means installed in the car for operating the elevators and g drier compartment onone side of the eleva- 'tor compartment and a cooler compartment on the other side of the elevator compartment, a'drier in the drier compartment and a cooler in the cooler compartment, said drier and cooler each comprising two equal sectlons wlthan lnclosed alr spacebetween,

and each section comprising a'receiving hopper, a pl uralityof vertically disposed grain chutes, and a plurality of horizontally dis-'-' posed air ducts on each side of each grain chute intersecting the chutes, alternate air ducts.- of each chute being closed at their outer ends and open at their inner ends and vice versa, and means to control and regulate the speed of flow of grain through the chutes, a-blower in each end compartment ofthe-car, said blowers being respectively connected to the air space between the sec- June, 1917.

, {mea re tions in the drying and cooling compartments, elevators in the elevator compartment, one for each drier and cooler section, one elevator being connected with a source of grain supply, each elevator being connected with and adapted to deliver grain to the hopper of itsrespective drying or cooling section, means to convey and deliver the gram dlscharged from each section excepting the last, to the elevator ofthe next succeeding section in a predetermined order,

ofthe last section to the receiver of a load-ing mechanism, a heater connected to the blower of the drying section and adapted to deliverheated air thereto and means to simultaneously operate the blowers, the elevators and the conveyers, whereby grain from the source of supply is continuously and consecutively passed through the drying and cooling sections in a predetermined order to a loadlng receiver.

lln testimony whereof I have hereunto set my'hand at loledo,- Ohio, this 23rd day of OLIVER W. nANnoLrn. 

